As I reported back in December, US Airways will be joining OneWorld on March 31, 2014, as part of their merger with American.
The thing most of us are of course curious about is which award chart US Airways will use for redemptions on OneWorld. Will OneWorld awards be bookable at the prices listed on the American or US Airways award chart? What will the routing rules be, and will US Airways impose fuel surcharges for award redemptions on British Airways?
Last week we got some more information from a US Airways spokesperson, courtesy of Australian Business Traveler:
US Airways will continue to run Dividend Miles as an independent program to American Airlines’ AAdvantage, with its current award chart used to determine redemption rates instead of adopting the American Airlines’ table.
“After US Airways’ entry into oneworld, US Airways will maintain its current award chart” the spokesperson advised, with bookings for Oneworld airlines available through US Airways.
So that seems like a pretty straightforward statement — US Airways will use their own award chart for redemptions on OneWorld… or will they?
Last night US Airways sent out an email to Dividend Miles members regarding their transition to OneWorld, which read as follows:
Get ready to say hello to oneworld®
On March 31, 2014, we’ll take the next step in our merger with American Airlines by joining oneworld, an award-winning global alliance that can take you to nearly 1,000 destinations around the world.A few things to keep in mind:
- All miles you’ve earned are safe, and you’ll continue to enjoy any Star Alliance benefits until our exit
- Any existing reservations with a Star Alliance partner airline are safe; however, you’ll no longer earn miles for flights with Star Alliance partners after March 30, 2014
- We’ll continue relationships with several airlines even after our exit from Star Alliance, which means you can still earn and redeem miles on these select partners
You can look forward to benefits of the oneworld alliance, including:
- Seamless service to nearly 1,000 destinations in more than 150 countries
- Earning and redeeming miles for travel on any oneworld member airline
- Access to nearly 600 airport lounges worldwide when flying First or Business Class on any oneworld member airline
It linked to a page on usairways.com outlining their transition to OneWorld, most of which recaps stuff we already know. There’s one part that’s interesting (and confusing), however:
How to redeem
- Check the American Airlines award chart to see how many miles you need to reach your desired destination.
- Book award travel on American with your Dividend Miles on usairways.com or call 800-428-4322.
- Miles cannot be combined between the Dividend Miles and AAdvantage programs to redeem flight awards.
“Check the American Airlines award chart to see how many miles you need to reach your desired destination,” eh? That seems to suggest they’ll use the American award chart as of March 31. Not only that, but the link at the bottom clearly says “American Airlines award travel chart.” Yet the link itself is to the US Airways chart… I almost feel like they’re playing games with us to keep us in suspense!
So it seems things aren’t as clear as they’d seem. I’ve emailed a PR contact at American to seek clarification on this, and will report back.
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